Japan's Identified Tsunami Victims Buried

Eleven days after the deadly tsunami-causing earthquake hit Japan, the identified victims are buried. The burial was decided as opposed to cremations (for now) because of the scarcity of fuel. The little fuel that they have are being used for other emergency needs, like for relief, for transportation, and for heat. Weather in Japan is very cold at this time,

and snowy at times. The burial of the bodies is a temporary measure: cremation will have to wait until fuel is obtained.

The confirmed death in 12 prefectures came to 9,080, and the number of people reported missing by relatives climbed to more than 13,000, as reported by Japan news agencies.

Over 8,360 bodies have been autopsied, and about half have been identified and handed over to relatives according to the authorities. As soon as the corpse is identified, the name is removed from the list of those missing. In one municipal government, authorities have set aside a large tract of land for burying 1,000 dead. The dead will be cremated two years from now. Other cities within the Miyagi Prefecture are planning to do the same.

Several thousand evacuees are now housed in more than 1500 makeshift shelters in several cities, including the City of Tokyo. The evacuees included those who left the city after the explosion, and those who feared for nuclear radiation.

Japan's transportation service is slowly going back to normal operations. The bullet train is now back in operation in some areas, and the expressway connecting Tokyo and the disaster areas are now open to truck traffic.